Tag: troubles

Jesus Will Always Be a Faithful Pilot Even When We’re Afraid and Forget His Past Mercies

Trudy Den Hoed28 Comments
Photo Courtesy of Pixabay

It’s scary when we feel so powerless and helpless in the storms of life, isn’t it? The coronavirus storm marching like a deadly enemy across the world causing devastating changes and losses for old and young alike. Physically, emotionally, and mentally. On top of other known or hidden trials hitting us as individuals or families.

When the disciples were in a boat with Jesus (Mark 4:35-41), a raging storm whipped up powerful waves that washed over the boat. As the boat filled up, they were sure they would sink into the sea.

Desperation and distress tore at their spirits. Jesus, where are You!?

They cried out, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”

Jesus got up from sleeping on a pillow at the helm, a pilot’s place. He rebuked the wind and waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Immediately it was completely calm.

Jesus asked, “How can you be so afraid? After all you’ve seen, where is your faith?”

They forgot that Jesus was in their boat, so they had nothing to fear, no matter how strong the storm was. They forgot all the miracles they had already witnessed Jesus perform. They forgot Jesus is a Pilot whose plans are always to prosper them.

We can have such short memory spans, can’t we? I I know I do. I easily remember the fear and devastation of past storms in life and forget God’s deliverance and how He has made me stronger in Him through them.

I easily get discouraged and devastated at all the pain in the world today, and forget God’s Almighty power to rescue us from the deepest pit, to get us safely through the most severe storms in life, and to know and care about every detail of our lives.

“Away despair! My gracious Lord doth hear.
Though winds and waves assault my keel,
He doth preserve it: He doth steer,
Ev’n when the boat seems most to reel.
Storms are the triumph of His art:
Well may He close His eyes, but not His heart.”
George Herbert (1633)

I know it’s not always easy, especially when “winds and waves assault” and blindside us, but God is still a faithful Pilot and “storms are the triumph of His art.” Though there may be times when we feel He doesn’t hear our cries, He is still working behind the scenes. Always. He never, ever closes off His heart of love, compassion, and mercy to us.

Even in our weak and frail moments, His love never fails. His unconditional love that doesn’t condemn us even when fear and anxiety coexist with clinging faith in the midst of the storms of life.

“Because of the Lord’s great love
we are not consumed,
 for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:22-23

Sometimes It Takes a Storm

by Jessica King

“They were drifting in the darkness,
The sea was all around.
They cried out to the Master,
Please save us or we’ll drown.
Jesus heard the cries,
And mercy stilled the wind.
Sometimes it takes a storm,
To see the sun again.”

February Hope Whispers

Trudy Den Hoed23 Comments
It’s always interesting to see what neighbors put up in the hallway between our separate condos, either hanging from their doors or on a small table beside their doors. This is one of my favorites so far this year. 🙂

Yes, kindness matters. I recently read that when a great author, Leo Tolstoy, met a homeless man, he reached into his pocket to give him some money. But his pocket was empty. He said, “I’m sorry, my brother, but I have nothing to give.” The beggar replied, “You have given me more than I asked for – you have called me brother.” (Grace For the Moment by Max Lucado)

“Too often we underestimate
the power of a touch, a smile,
a kind word, a listening ear,
an honest compliment,
or the smallest act of caring,
all of which have the potential
to turn a life around.”
Leo Buscaglia

Who We Are
In Christ

Jesus Is a Faithful Friend
Who Can and Will
Carry Us Through

Footprints In the Sand
by Leona Lewis

“I heard you say
I promise you
I’m always there
When your heart is filled with sorrow
And despair
And I’ll carry you
When you need a friend
You’ll find my footprints in the sand”

Nature is a Retreat of Hope

“There are moments
when all anxiety and stated toil
are becalmed in the infinite
leisure and repose of nature.”
Henry David Thoreau

Thank you to my brother, John, in Arizona for the photos of Coues deer and javelinas and to our son, Glen, for the Florida sunset while vacationing with his family. (🙂 Please respect copyright laws. 🙂)

   

 

Thank you to all of you who share beautiful nature photos on your blog posts. They always breathe hope into my spirit. 🙂

 

When the Burden of Grief Makes Gratitude Harder

Trudy Den Hoed28 Comments

Thank you for your prayers concerning the tragedy I wrote about in last week’s post. We appreciated it so much! Though Tad opens his eyes, he is not allowed company right now. All the nurse would tell our son is that he gets very agitated when he gets visitors, and that’s not good for him. So we don’t know too many details of his condition, but we are so afraid he will have some lasting brain damage. We continue to pray for his healing.

Yesterday morning was a funeral for a young husband and father, only 33 years old. Three small children, 5-year-old twin boys and a 3-year-old girl, will not grow up with their devoted dad. The wife is a granddaughter of the couple that live across the hall from us.

The day after my neighbor heard about the loss of a granddaughter’s husband, she had to take her husband to hospice because of cancer.

Do you ever get overwhelmed by all the suffering and death there is in this world? It’s hard, isn’t it?

I know some of you readers are personally dealing with the death of family or friends only recently and will be experiencing your first Thanksgiving and Christmas without them. It will be so difficult to have missing places among you. May God give you strength!

There are others of you whose loss I don’t know about, whether a loved one, a relationship, or a loss of who you really are.

Maybe you have no family to share these days with. Or your families are so dysfunctional that it devastates you and fills you with anxiety to get together.

Whatever your loss and however alone or misunderstood you may feel, I am so sorry. But infinitely more sorry than I am is our God who knows, cares, and understands. Even when grief clouds our vision and it’s hard to grasp that truth, it is still the truth. Even when life changes drastically for us, He never changes. He is faithful. Even if we sometimes have a hard time being grateful, we are still precious to Him and He will never leave us.

Someday when we can look back to the times of great sorrow, we will see one set of footprints in the sand. It was in those times that He carried us. Thank You, God, for Your unconditional love, Your never-ending compassion, and Your unchanging faithfulness!

“Because of the Lord’s
great love we are not consumed,
    for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
    great is Your faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:22-23

I hope to be back here the first Tuesday of December.

Footprints In the Sand
by Leona Lewis